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The Most Widely Read Collector's Newspaper In The East Published Weekly By Joel Sater Publications www.antiquesandauctionnews.net
VOL. 44, NO. 42 FRIDAY OCTOBER 18, 2013
The Stiegel-Coleman Estate And Elizabeth Furnace Sale By Karl Pass
n Sept. 28, John Hess Auction Service Inc. offered the historic Stiegel-Coleman house and Elizabeth Furnace estate along with 163 lots of antiques at an on-site sale at the property, located outside Brickerville, Pa., between Lititz and Schaefferstown. The 33-acre estate, bordering both Lancaster and Lebanon County, encompasses five principal buildings and several outbuildings. The property has been in the Coleman family since 1776 and registered as a National Historic Landmark since 1966. The wellmaintained and restored 16 room sandstone mansion has many original features: six fireplaces, an open staircase, and original cast iron fire backs. The other buildings include the original homestead (known as the Huber house), a caretaker’s house, a large sandstone stable, and a charcoal barn. The first building constructed on the property was the Huber house in 1750. Wilhelm Stiegel entered a partnership with ironmaster Jacob Huber, purchasing 400 acres in 1757. Just three years later, their enterprise totaled 10,000 acres. Around this time period, a second building was built (now the wing of the current house). Ironmaster Robert Coleman entered the fray in 1776 taking out a lease on Elizabeth Furnace. Coleman was an Irish immigrant and ascended as a successful furnace operator within the region’s iron industry. The industry was a major economy engine in Pennsylvania throughout the 18th century and beyond. During the American Revolution, production focused on munitions, yet iron furnaces also produced cast iron stoves, such as five-plate jamb stoves,
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and firebacks. Coleman built the formal mansion in 1790. At its peak, Elizabeth Furnace and Plantation was a very large-scale, nearly self-sufficent community. The Coleman family ran Elizabeth Furnace until 1856. Remnants of it are in the woods adjacent to one of the barns. Changes occurred in the mid 20th century. In 1948, when the Pennsylvania Turnpike was built, it divided the property. It is 4,500 yards to the south of the main house. Recently, an archaeological study was conducted by Millersville University unearthing thousands of artifacts including coins and pottery shards. They are currently on display at the university, locat-
Coleman was sold on Jan. 16, 1998, at Christie’s in New York City. They lived on the Main Line of Philadelphia and were Bill Coleman’s parents. Their collection was written about in a “Living with Antiques” feature article by Lita Solis-Cohen in the April 1966 issue of The Magazine Antiques. The 161-lot sale at Christie’s grossed $2,803,853. Included in the sale was material having descended in the family, plus a significant John Hess, with the aid of Phil Nissley, is shown at the podicollection of Early American um selling the real estate. It sold for $2,000,000 to a furniture bought privately by the Coleman family member. Pass photo. New York. It holds the distinction as being the first piece of American furniture to be sold at auction for over $1 million. Among the furniture sold at the on-site sale held by Hess was a Simon Willard Federal mahogany tall-case clock from Roxbury, Mass., that sold for $48,000. The winning bidder was Bill Coleman’s daughter, seated in the front row under the tent. His daughter was also the high bidder for the important Thomas Sully painting done Nov. 2 to Dec. 18, 1846, depicting two of James Coleman’s daughters. It was $145,000 and was underbid by a private collector. (Continued on page 2)
This is a front view of the Stiegel-Coleman estate. Pass photo.
ed in Millersville, Pa. Bill Coleman is the eighth-generation owner and the seller of the estate. The sale started at 10 a.m. and the real estate sold at 11. John Hess sold the property for $2,000,000 to a family member. “It stayed in the family,” stated auctioneer Phil Nissley. “As a family, we’re happy about that,” said Bill Coleman, following the sale. An open house held on Sept. 26 was well-attended, as was the sale itself. Guided tours were offered for a $20 per person admission charge. The fee was required to attend the auction on the 28th as well. Proceeds benefited the Lancaster County Historical Society. Charging admission is not a common practice at estate sales, but it served as a fundraising tool for the society, View of the caretaker’s house located behind which is a part of the larger LancasterHistory.org organization. Parking the main house. Pass photo. during the sale took place at nearby Elizabeth Farms, and attendees were shuttled by bus to the property. The sale total for the antiques was $535,000. There was no buyer’s premium. Including the real estate, the sale garnered $2,535,000. “It was a lot of work, but we wanted to make it more than just a sale; we wanted an event,” said Phil Nissley of John Hess Auction Service, Inc. “I thought John Hess did an excellent job. It was a large undertaking,” noted Coleman. This wasn’t the first time Coleman family material was This is the Huber house, the oldest building on the prop- sold at auction. The collection of erty. Pass photo. Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Dawson
Auctioneer John Hess, who held the sale, had
Colemans in Michigan in 1952. The materi- a large tent set up in the back of the property. al had been assembled by the late well- It was the perfect location to have the sale. known Birmingham, Mich. dealer Jess Pass photo. Pavey. The Boston Queen Anne mahogany block-front desk-andbookcase that sold at the sale held by John Hess for $31,000 to a Coleman family member was also in the Christies’s sale in 1998, where it sold for $51,750. Market conditions for Early American furniture were vastly different 15 years ago. An important Early American tea table once owned by Bill Coleman’s parents sold for $1,045,000 in 1986, This is the main stables on the vast Elizabeth Furnace estate. Pass also at Christie’s in photo.
The original cast iron fence was produced at Elizabeth Furnace. Pass photo.